ETSC Blogology
All Blog entries and comments are the professional judgment of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of any organization. Inappropriate comments posted may be removed by the blogger.
Rescuing Lost Pictures
Posted: Sep 29, 2008 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
We had a small crisis on our hands one evening at our digital photography camp this summer. Two individuals both had their camera storage cards wiped out, with a significant number of unsaved images on each card. (Strangely enough, they were sitting next to each other, even though the two events were completely unrelated - (Read More)
OMG! Cell Phones in Classrooms?
Posted: Sep 5, 2008 by Jeff Allen (ESD 114)
Just stumbled on this article from BusinessWeek. Universities warming up to the idea that their students are coming to class with a powerful computing/communication/collaboration device in their pockets.
(Read More)CTL 2Go PC
Posted: May 5, 2008 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
While I was at the ACPE conference last week I had a chance to work for a few minutes with a CTL 2Go PC (the same device I mentioned a few weeks ago). It feels much more rugged than the EeePC, and to underscore the point, the company representative repeatedly demonstrated dropping the device from (Read More)
Little Big Planet: Games in Education?
Posted: Nov 20, 2007 by Jeff Allen (ESD 114)
I’ve been thinking about video games in education lately...
Several months ago I was talking to my son about how technology could be used in the classroom. I asked him what he thought was the best use of technology to help students learn. His immediate response was “games”.
My son is a “gamer”. At 7 years old he could direct Mario to effortlessly bounce his way around mushrooms and turtles with wings, on the way to defeating Bowser. Now, as a teen-ager, his taste in games have matured a bit, but he still pulls out the ole’ NES once in a while to keep his Mario skills sharp. So his response to my question was not really a surprise.
However, digging further, he elaborated on how games make him think, problem solve, and in an online environment, collaborate with others. He talked about how playing simulations, like SimCity, allowed him to experiment, make mistakes and learn from them. I must say, there was a bit of fatherly pride welling up in me to hear him talk about the power of learning from games so eloquently.
So as a result of that conversation, I’ve been thinking about games lately… but just thinking.
Then, last night, my son said, “You’ve got to see this game YouTube”. I was a bit reluctant. I’m not a big fan of watching videos of others play a video game (spend a few minutes on a YouTube search of “Guitar Hero” and you understand what I mean). However, I clicked the link and was stunned at what I saw. The game is called Little Big Planet and is developed by an esoteric group of game developers who call themselves Media Molecule. Take a moment and watch this video…
The graphics are stunning, but the game play seems pretty simple; very much like a Mario Bro’s linear path game. Each level is a puzzle that you have to navigate to complete. However, you are quick to realize that this game is using a very realistic physics engine such that the objects move and interact with each other as they might in real life. Kinda’ cool... really cool. But there’s more. This is a multi-player game such that every player is dependent on the others to solve the puzzle and complete the level. Take a moment and watch this video of the game being played and discussed by the developers...
Now here’s the kicker… you can create your own levels and share them with the world. Teams can compete against each other to solve each other’s puzzles. That’s really cool! Now take a moment and think about this game in the context of a classroom. How could it be used? Problem-solving? Communication? Higher-order thinking? Creativity? Collaboration? Sounds like 21st Century Skills to me. I could even imagine this game in a science classroom as a physics simulation.
Like I said, I’ve been thinking about games lately...
Tags: games, education, littlebigplanet
(Read More)Revised NETS-S
Posted: Sep 17, 2007 by Jeff Allen (ESD 114)
Well, my summer "hiatus" from posting is over.
Looking at my recent posts, you will notice that at the end of June I attended the National Educational Computing Conference in Atlanta, GA. An anticipated event of this year's conference was ISTE's release of the revised National Educational Technology Standards for Students.
The revised standards are excellent and really do reflect the role that educational technology plays in the learning of today's students. Take a look a the comparison between now and what was written in 1998. The new standards position technology within the scope of the 21st Century skills.
In 1998, it was enough to define what students needed to know about and be able to do with technology. Now, we're defining what students need to know and be able to do with technology to learn effectively and live productively in a rapidly changing digital world.
—Don Knezek, ISTE CEO, 2007
| NETS-S (1998) | NETS-S (2007) |
| 1. Basic operations and concepts | 1. Creativity and Innovation |
| 2. Social, ethical, and human issues | 2. Communication and collaboration |
| 3. Technology productivity tools | 3. Research and Information Fluency |
| 4. Communication Tools | 4. Critical thinking, problem-solving & decision-making |
| 5. Technology research tools | 5. Digital Citizenship |
| 6. Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools | 6. Technology operations and concepts |
technorati tags:NETS
(Read More)Peer Coaching
Posted: Aug 24, 2007 by Jeff Allen (ESD 114)
This week I had the pleasure of spending a few days in beautiful Port Angeles, WA and working with eleven teachers from the OESD region facilitate their training as instructional technology coaches this summer through the Peer Coaching Program. The teachers, from Bremerton, Crescent, and Port Angeles, were recipients Washington State's implementation of the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant program.
The peer coaching training, supported by Microsoft and developed by the Puget Sound Center for Teaching and Technology, provides 10 days of training for teachers to serve as instructional technology coaches. Participants work with teachers in their buildings to discuss how to utilize technology in ways that improve student learning.
In addition to the training, teachers receive funding for equipment for their building, additional professional development, and attendance to the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) conference on February 26-29, 2007 in Seattle.
I've really enjoyed working with this group. The focus of the training is on developing skills and sensibilities of serving as coaches of other teachers, and these guys are going to be great! I'll be facilitating follow-up trainings throughout the year. I'm looking forward to spending more time with this dynamic group of educators. I'll keep you posted.
(Read More)Couple of Cool Math Tools
Posted: Jun 12, 2007 by Jeff Allen (ESD 114)
Was perusing my del.icio.us links the other day and found that I had added a link to a pretty cool mathematics graphing tool...
I can't remember where I originally found this (thank goodness for del.icio.us), but FooPlot allows you to input a linear, quadratic, parametric, or polar function and it draws the graph for you. OK... mathematical graphing tools have been around for a while but this one has a couple of cool features that I would have loved to have back when I was teaching mathematics.
FooPlot allows you to export your graph as an image in a couple of different formats. Here's a graph of two functions:- r(theta)=.3theta where 0<theta<3pi
- y=sin(2x)
- Ok... If that didn't grab ya, you can add a function into the string of a url and it will automatically go to the graph on FooPlot. For example the url: http://www.fooplot.com/3x^2+.5x-1 will take you directly to the graph. Great for linking students to the graph of a function without having to download the image.
Katy, our Mathematics Ed Director, pointed me to another great tool. GeoGebra is a GeoSketchpad-like app that you can download or run on the web. It has a lot of the same functionality of Sketchpad, and the price is right!
